Gucci Mane will spend the next two years in prison. After 11 months in custody, the Atlanta-based rapper has been sentenced to a further 28 months in federal jail on a gun charge laid last September.

“According to young people – my nieces and nephews – you are quite cool,” the district court judge Steve Jones said. But popularity wasn’t able to divert him from serious jail time: although the rapper pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm, prosecutors insisted on no less than 39 months behind bars. Accounting for the time he has already spent in custody, the MC, whose real name is Radric Davis, will not be released until the beginning of 2017. He must also serve three years’ probation and pay a $5,000 fine.

“You’re still a young man, and you can still do a lot if you follow and abide by the law,” Jones said, according to the Associated Press. However, Davis’s music does not seem to require his lawfulness or liberty: the rapper has released three albums and numerous mixtapes since his arrest last autumn. In an interview earlier this summer, he claimed to “still run the streets, from jail”.

Once one of the United States’ most hotly tipped rappers, Davis’s career has been dogged by addiction, legal problems, and arguments with his collaborators. According to his lawyers, the 34-year-old is addicted to lean – aka cough syrup mixed with soda – and would prefer to serve time away from the “distractions” of Atlanta.

“He understands he has some work ahead of him, and his goal is to bring a resolution to this case through this sentence and to get back to something that is very important to him,” said Drew Findling, his attorney.

Davis was arrested walking down an Atlanta street on 14 September 2013, following a phone call by one of his friends. Police found the MC carrying a 40-calibre handgun, 11 rounds of ammunition and a small amount of marijuana. He was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge, before being sedated and taken to hospital.

Signed to Warner Bros Records in 2009, Gucci Mane released two albums with the major label, both of which reached the US top 10. He has also guested on tracks with Mariah Carey, the Black Eyed Peas and Mario. Spotlight, his 2009 team-up with Usher, reached No 46 in the UK.